Major cultural and world events, along with even goofy tweets, often give rise to a run on the trademark office by those hoping to strike it rich through being the first to monopolize a phrase. No one ever gets rich from this tactic and these antics only illustrate the profound misunderstanding most of the populace has about what a trademark is.
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Trademark Registrations Are No Place For Pandemic Opportunism Posted on: March 23, 2020 In: Intellectual Property & Technology
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The Dominos Have Started to Fall After Landmark “Stairway to Heaven” Copyright Ruling Posted on: March 20, 2020 In: Intellectual Property & TechnologyOne of the biggest rulings in music copyright law was recently issued by an en banc panel of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals and its impact has already been felt in another high-profile case. The decision in Skidmore v. Led Zeppelin (Ninth Circuit No. 16-56057, Issued March 9, 2020) marked what will certainly be seen by copyright scholars as a watershed moment.
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OCR Announces HIPAA Telehealth Security Waiver in Response to COVID-19 Pandemic Posted on: March 20, 2020 In: Data Privacy & CybersecurityThe Office for Civil Rights (OCR) at the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), which is the body responsible for enforcing certain regulations pursuant to the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA), is exercising its enforcement discretion to meet the needs of health care providers and patients during the COVID-19 (Coronavirus) public health emergency.
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Legislative Alert: Vermont Expands Definition of Personal Information and Enacts Protections for Student Privacy and Automatic Subscription Renewals Posted on: March 19, 2020 In: Data Privacy & CybersecurityOn March 5, 2020, Vermont Governor Phil Scott signed into law Senate Bill 110, which amends sections of Chapter 62 of the Vermont Statutes Annotated - “Protection of Personal Information” - including Sections 2430, 2435, and 2454. The bill also adds Section 2443 to the chapter, which governs the privacy of student information belonging to preschool, kindergarten, elementary, and secondary school students.
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Five Pointers for Enforcing a Non-Compete Agreement in Texas Posted on: March 19, 2020 In: Labor & EmploymentPartner Kristopher M. Stockberger provides some tips on how to ensure a non-compete agreement in The Lone Star State is fully enforceable.
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What an Employer May Screen in the Time of COVID-19 Posted on: March 19, 2020 In: Labor & EmploymentIn this time of extra precautions, closing businesses, and social distancing, employers are doing their best to protect the public and their workers. Some businesses, however, are unable to close their doors and/or serve a valuable public purpose. For those employers, they seek any and all available methods to ensure safety. Some of those measures, however, may violate various laws, including the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and the Rehabilitation Act.
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Inequitable Conduct or Experimentation: Long Live Inequitable Conduct? Posted on: March 17, 2020 In: Intellectual Property & TechnologyThe Federal Circuit recently found a litigant guilty of inequitable conduct in circumstances that should give pause to inventors who want to share their ideas for the purpose of experimentation before making a patent application.
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Washington State Data Breach Notification Statute Updates Go Into Effect, Imposing New Requirements on Businesses Posted on: March 17, 2020 In: Data Privacy & CybersecurityEffective March 1, 2020, amendments to the Washington State data breach notification statute made the law significantly more onerous for companies dealing with data security incidents. The amendments, which we first covered in May 2019, expanded the definition of personal information, shortened the deadlines for notification, and imposed additional requirements for notice contents.
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ALERT: COVID-19 / Coronavirus-Related Ransomware and Phishing Attacks Posted on: March 13, 2020 In: Data Privacy & CybersecurityWith the advent of the Coronavirus, criminals have begun to take advantage of what consumers expect to receive via email to conduct phishing attacks. Criminals are also expected to take advantage of millions of vulnerable remote connections from employee home networks to their corporate networks.
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Colorado Temporarily Requires Employers to Provide Sick Leave While Awaiting COVID-19 Testing Posted on: March 12, 2020 In: Labor & EmploymentOn March 11, 2020, the Colorado Department of Labor and Employment (CDLE) issued emergency rules, referred to as Colorado Health Emergency Leave with Pay (Colorado HELP) Rules, requiring employers in certain industries to provide four days of paid sick leave to employees with flu-like symptoms while awaiting test results for COVID-19.
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Ninth Circuit Holds Prior Salary Alone or in Combination with Other Factors Cannot Justify Gender Pay Gaps Under The Equal Pay Act Posted on: March 11, 2020 In: Labor & EmploymentOn February 27, 2020, the Ninth Circuit in Rizo v. Yovino held that an employer cannot rely on an individual’s prior salary alone or in combination with other job-related factors to justify a wage disparity between a male and female employee when defending against an Equal Pay Act (EPA) claim. The EPA prohibits employers from paying male and female employees differently for the same work, with a few exceptions, including when a pay difference is based on a “factor other than sex.”
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Ransomware and the Paramount Importance of Evidence Preservation for Healthcare Entities Posted on: March 10, 2020 In: Data Privacy & CybersecurityOrganizations regulated by the Healthcare Information Privacy and Accountability Act (HIPAA) must take special care to preserve valuable forensic artifacts at the outset of a ransomware or other cybersecurity event. The HIPAA Breach Notification Rule presumes a cybersecurity incident has resulted in unauthorized access to unsecured protected health information and the burden shifts to the organization to show a low probability of the compromise of the health information it maintains.
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Featured Posts
- February 10, 2023 Historic Hermès Jury Verdict Paves Way for Digital Trademark Rights
- January 13, 2023 Sports Law: A Year in Review & What to Watch for in 2023
- January 06, 2023 Federal Trade Commission Cracks Down on Non-Compete Agreements
- December 06, 2022 Just In Time: Last Minute Compliance Tips for the CPRA and VCDPA
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